Uncertainty over NMS tenure extension as Kananu assumes office

The lifeline of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services is now at the mercy of Governor Anne Kananu.

NMS, led by Lt General Mohamed Badi, has three months before its two-year term ends hence the speculation whether it will be extended or not.

Lawyer Demas Kiprono argued that Kananu can only extend the deed of transfer agreement until the end of the current regime.

“Legally, she is bound under the second county government and cannot go beyond. The agreement was between the office of the governor of the second administration and the national government. They cannot purport to insert the will of the incoming governor,” he said.

Kiprono said the deed of transfer was an extraordinary agreement out of the known and as a result, Nairobi residents were denied fruits of devolution due to the incompetency of the last governor.

On February 25, last year former Governor Mike Sonko and former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, signed an agreement to transfer the functions to the national government.

The functions included county health services, transport, public works, utilities and ancillary services, county planning and development.

The deed of transfer gave NMS the mandate to oversee the functions for a renewable period of 24 months from March 17, last year, when the entity was established until March 2022.

Political expert Herman Manyora said for the extension of NMS to occur, both parties have to look into the deed of the transfer agreement.

“The deed of transfer had a term of 24 months. For its extension both parties have to look into the provisions and follow the right procedure,” he said

Lawyer Danstan Omari said Kananu has the liberty to extend the term or not as the deed of transfer was between the county government and the national government and not Sonko and the national government,

He said in a scenario where the NMS term is extended, it will last up to September 22, 2022, which will mark the end of the current county government.

“She can choose not to extend the tenure and have the functions transferred back to the county government as long as she follows the law,” Omari said.

When Kananu took oath in January as the deputy governor, she said there will be no hesitation to extend NMS tenure when the time comes and she will have the MCAs support.

Under the deed of transfer, terminating the agreement is a task and in the event of a dispute between the parties, the deed requires them to first seek a resolution amicably through negotiations.

If they fail to reach an agreement within 30 days from the date either party writes to the other, they will escalate the matter to the National and county governments coordinating summit.

“Any amendments, modifications and additions to the deed can only be conducted by a written instrument duly executed by or on behalf of each party and the deal can only be terminated by the mutual written consent of both parties expressed in common documents,” reads the agreement.

The majority of MCAs have however expressed their favour in terms of NMS extension.

Majority leader Abdi Hassan suggested that the tenure should be extended until the general elections are conducted.

“It is evident that NMS has delivered and if need to, we shall support its extension to continue delivering services to residents,” he said.

Minority whip Peter Imwatok said ODM wants the NMS term extended and he was working on a motion to that effect.

He said the planned motion will call for the transition clause to be invoked after the 2022 general election so that a new governor will have a minimum of four and a maximum of six months to return the transferred functions from NMS.

“The achievements of NMS, cannot be allowed to go down the drain by pre-election political intrigues. The motion will call for the extension of the deed of transfer for another year or so to allow for completion of the projects,” Imwatok said.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris